In 2006, NASA launched two satellites into solar orbit in opposite directions. On Sunday, they reached their final destinations, on opposite sides of the sun—giving us, for the first time in history, a picture of the entire sun.

Unless the aliens in contact with the Mayans gave them secret whole-sun knowledge, of course. Which is entirely possible! Either way, the mission—STEREO, for Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory—will be giving us pictures of the sun for eight years. (Ha, kidding, they'll give us pictures of the sun for a year and a half, and then the space-Mayans will return and activate our collective cosmic consciousness.)